Ephphatha

god has been so good lately, even in the face of a pretty crummy situation (the economy, people around me struggling to put food on their table, etc) that i want everyone...well anyone who reads this...to say praise be to God! i continue to be amazed at how this Lord of ours works, how in the hardest and most difficult times of life God comes and rescues, comes and embraces, comes and moves and breathes hope to the despairing.

okay- so after an opening like that i think i better give some explanation. first of all, our little community of advent seems to be onto something in this neck of the woods and through different ministries i truly believe that we are living out our baptismal calling quite well. we have been offering a healing service of prayer for sometime now- i think it started sometime last winter- it started first with our youth group on Wednesday nights- once a month on the first wednesday- and then we decided to take it to the larger congregation once a month on the third sunday. anyway, the kids long for this service- it is done in a quiet, dark, candle-lit setting, with scripture, silence, meditation, a brief message and music. we then have a time when folks can come and be annointed and prayed for individually by myself or another person. when we started this ministry i was kind of skeptic thinking to myself that this will be nice, but really what are the kids going to think about it. oh how wrong i was. since day one, the kids have amazed me at what they bring forward, what they carry, and what they wish to have taken from them by the Lord. i am so humbled every time we do this that i get to be part of it, and that i get to see god working in such amazing ways first hand.

a couple of wednesdays ago it was time for the service. i got word earlier in the day that a senior in one of the high schools around here died in a tragic accident and knew that many of our kids would be impacted by that at some level. at the same time, one of our youth's father was waiting for a kidney transplant after many months, and a pretty serious kidney disease- so that weighed heavily on the minds of many as well as we were preparing for a benefit dinner to support them. well the stage was set for god to do something- that was my prayer, simple yet commanding- God move this night, do something to instill some kind of hope in these young people- and god answered....god moved, god prevailed....the young many who's father was awaiting the surgery was present, and for the first time in a long time he told me he was able to let go some of his fears, his pain, his anxiety- in fact he was so ashamed that he was visibly grieving that he left and went outside allowing the two of us to have some time to chat- my heart was broken by his plight, but my joy was great knowing that god was reminding him through this community that loves him how special he is, and that god is a god that does not abandon.

then last night...another long sunday- after a full morning we had a congregational meeting, and then the healing service in the evening- i was not that jazzed to be coming back to church at night after just getting home a couple hours before. i was not alone- one of the other leaders, n, admitted at the end of the service that he did not want to be their originally, but once again god moved, god filled, and god came to us in a way that completely and utterly amnazed everyone- the spirit heals, oh the spirit heals.

not sure why i wanted to write this particular note after not writing for so long...maybe i just needed to express how thankful i am for my calling, and for what god is up to. sure, there are issues...how do pay off the land so we can begin to worry about a building...how to love those that seem to be wronging us and our ministry, how to control fires....how to survive- but man god is good. as i was sitting in silence last night, watching the water fountain, the candles, and the cross, i had this amazing sense of peace- like god reminding me this is where i am supposed to be- this is my calling, this is my vocation, this is my place, and these are the people i have been called to serve- i have had periods of those thoughts before,but last night it was as if i finally understood why this calling every evolved. i am at peace, and my prayer continues to be that i can be an agent of God's grace for this community and for this church. thanks be to god for being faithful, and for taking a chance on a seminary grad from minnesota- going to northern michigan to develop a new congregation- looking back that seems ridiculous, i had no clue....heck i still don't but god's grace is sufficient. amen.

Labels: church, ministry